Bad Dad, part II!

GREENVILLE, S.C. – WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford’s whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days.

Sanford’s wife Jenny said she last talked to him on Thursday, and though she didn’t know where he is, she said she wasn’t concerned. She said he had left to have time to write.

Joel Sawyer, communications director for the governor’s office, then said the governor had been on the Appalachian Trail. Sawyer said staffers heard from Sanford on Tuesday morning and the governor plans to return Wednesday.

Sawyer said the governor is surprised by all the attention.

On Tuesday, sources told News 4’s Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.

Sources told Robertson that a federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane. Robertson was told that the governor was not accompanied by security detail.

Sawyer has emphasized that the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail and that it wasn’t something the staff or Jenny Sanford were concerned about.

But sources told WYFF News 4 that the federal agent who spotted Sanford saw him at the Atlanta airport, which is about 80 miles from the start of the trail.

WYFF News 4 has not yet confirmed where the plane was going or how the governor got to the airport, but it is clear there are two very different stories.

News 4 called the governor’s office, and was told again by staffers that they stand by their original statement that the governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail. They did not want to comment on this story.

             Sanford has been out of reach for more than four days, including Father’s Day.

What better way to get your head together than to tell the kids to piss off on Father’s Day?

Holy crap – could the GOP self-destruct a little bit more this month?  The guy who demanded Clinton resign for his affair gets nailed for one, and now another dude who was clearly angling for the GOP nomination for President in 2012 goes off the ranch - literally.

I’m not saying there’s a John Edwards angle to this thing but – honestly – if it had been Bill Clinton, wouldn’t you all have been trying to track him down the Appalachians by opened “Trojan” boxes and torn metal rappers?

At best, this is just lunatic arrogance.  The same guy who felt his principles were more important than the good that would have been done with the stimulus money.

At the middle – it’s stupid.  South Carolina is still sort of a state – which means it sort of needs a chief executive who can be sort of reached in case of a sort of crisis.

But at worst – here’s a guy trying to lie and mislead to “get away.”  A guy who ditched his wife and kids over Father’s Day – for what?  The guy could have taken a vacation – said “Hey, I’m going away for a few days” – and nobody would have cared.  He could have left Monday, and not gotten awarded his “OJ Simpson lousy father” badge.  And seriously – take a few days to write?  While he hiked?  Is he writing on the back of a Sherpa?

Something about this stinks, a lot, and I’m guessing it’s not the last we’ll hear of this.

Oh, arrogance and perceived invulnerability… is there NO politician you can’t knee-cap?